


It Knows No Laws

by truthtakestime



Category: Farscape
Genre: Choices, Episode Tag, Gen, Murder, mothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 13:39:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truthtakestime/pseuds/truthtakestime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The cost of Aeryn Sun's life. Tag to S3E17 "The Choice".</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Knows No Laws

**Author's Note:**

> I was re-watching “The Choice” (possibly my favorite Farscape episode of all time), and had the sudden urge to write something about Xhalax. According to her own story, she wasn't always an assassin. I was interested in exploring her choice, between Talyn and Aeryn.

_"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no laws, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its way."_

_\- Agatha Christie_

ovo

He never saw me coming. 

It was easy – almost laughably easy – to slip into his quarters. He was one of the lucky ones; Talyn had personal quarters as opposed to being shoved into barracks with room for little more than bunks and gear for a dozen soldiers. But he was important among his kind. He was awarded privacy and comfort...or so we had thought. 

Security measures in his room had not been upgraded since we'd been found out. I never knew if he had left them the way that they were, or if they'd been intentionally sabotaged. One or the other, it did not matter in the end. I entered his room, and I cut his throat. 

Talyn didn't protest when I slid under the sheets beside him. It had been our routine for so long that he barely even flinched when I draped my body over his bare back. “Where have you been?” he asked, his voice foggy with sleep. “Did they keep you so long for questioning? How is Aeryn?”

I bit my lip, pressed the knife I carried harder against my thigh. Took a deep breath. “Aeryn is safe,” I assured him, blinking back irrational tears. It was the truth, or it would be in a moment. We were far past the place of tears. “I spoke with High Command, and I took steps to guarantee that no harm will come to her.” 

“You are amazing,” he whispered, leaning his face up to kiss my chin. “No one else could do what you have done and survive.” His words cut through me. I knew what he thought. I had told him that I was going to speak to High Command, plead the case for our family. It was better than all three of us being summarily executed for doing the one thing forbidden by our own rules; loving. I knew that he thought I had succeeded; he hadn't been led off in chains yet, I had been allowed back to him, and our daughter was safe. Talyn thought we had won. “When can I see her again?” 

My words caught in my throat, and for a moment I wasn't sure if I could do it, do what I had been ordered to do. But I had to. I'd made the impossible choice, and as much as it hurt, it could _not_ be allowed to go the other way. My daughter had to live. “You can't,” I answered him finally, flicking the blade of the knife up to press against his throat. He bit off a cry, and his body was too tangled in mine to escape. 

“Xhalax, what are you doing?” he gasped. There was fear in his voice, and confusion, and anger; he didn't understand. Couldn't understand; but they hadn't presented him with this terrible choice. “Let me go.” 

“I can't,” I whispered, my lips pressed against his ear. One rebellious tear escaped and ran into his hair. “Our daughter's life does not come without cost. High Command did not pardon us, but they gave me a chance to redeem myself. To save Aeryn's life, to save _our daughter's_ life, a life must be taken as payment. 

“I did try to save your life, but High Command will not allow our crime to go unpunished. I was given a choice; to destroy the accomplice, or the product. And I have chosen that our daughter shall live.” 

“Xhalax...”

“I promise that Aeryn will know your name.” 

I cannot lie and say that there were no more tears as I slit his throat, but I did my duty. And I can promise, with absolute certainty, that _after_ that night, I never wept again. 


End file.
